In a Field
by Cloud-1-3-5 and Ame Emi Dai
Summary: [Sequel to In A Room] Yugi, Yami, Ryou and Bakura go on a camping trip. As is prone to happening when these four are left to their own devices, issues soon arise - and that's before Malik gets there! Rating for infrequent cursing, discontinued
1. Upon Arrival

* * *

Hey all! Here I am, with a new fic - this one's a sequel to 'In a Room.' Read that if you want, it's not essential but it'll help you with a few other jokes in this.

This one is **non-yaoi** (for a change) and no, no amount of pleading will make me change my mind. I denounce all ownership of the characters in this fic, as they are the property of Kazuki Takahashi-san.

Enjoy!

* * *

"But Bakura..."

"_No,"_ came the firm reply.

"But it's all marshy here, and-"

"_No."_

Bakura stood his ground firmly, stamping on the patch of earth he had claimed. "We're setting up camp here, and that's final!" He glowered at his argumentative hikari warningly. "And if you don't stop whining, you can count yourself lucky to even have a tent!"

Ryou couldn't help pouting, straining slightly under the weight of the bag he'd been given to carry. He felt it somewhat unfair that all Bakura had to carry was his own tent, while Ryou had his tent _and_ all their provisions. "But Bakura, that's the only dry patch of land here," he protested, shifting his weight from foot to foot and screwing his nose up a little at the squelching noises. "Our tents won't be any good at all!"

"I don't care," Bakura stated firmly. "We are _not_ camping near the woods!"

"Is that so?" came Yami's deep voice, strolling up casually with Yugi at his side, the two having a slightly more even distribution of weight. "Well I for one agree with Ryou," he stated, giving the slightly dishevelled-looking boy a warm smile. "This ground's no good for any of us, it's soaked through from being so close to the river."

"Yami's right," Yugi piped up loyally. "The tent pegs won't be any use, we'll all be uncomfortable, it'll be hell trying to get a fire going, and-"

Bakura glowered at the short boy, his tirade shrivelling up on the tip of his tongue. "Since when were you the Pharaoh's cheerleader?" he growled, dropping his bag off his back and ignoring the slight splat it made as it hit the ground. "I'd have thought you of all people might at least have enough of a spine to realise I'm talking sense."

Yugi looked down at his feet, which had sunk half an inch into the mud in the time he'd been standing there. Making a pointed effort of pulling them out, quietly 'eww'ing at the 'schlup' noise each foot made, Yugi shook his head. "Sorry Bakura, but I really am with Yami and Ryou on this one. This ground's no good."

"Ohhh..." Yami suddenly remarked, a smirk on his face. "I see now... What was it you didn't like again, Bakura? Small, furry creatures?"

The former tomb robber's face visibly twitched at this insinuation. "What on _earth_ are you talking about?" he snapped.

"It's okay guys," Yami stated, his smirk widening. "Us three can go camp by the woods, with all the provisions and a lovely warm fire, and Bakura can camp here, where he doesn't have to worry about the squirrels nibbling his toes."

Bakura made a rather curious noise at this, somewhere halfway between a strangled snarl and an angry squeak. "Rubbish!" he bellowed, his voice a little higher than usual. "Utter trash! I'm not afraid of anything!"

"So join us then," Yami called over his shoulder, already leading Ryou and Yugi away from the marshland. "No-one's refusing you permission, right guys?"

"Right!" Ryou called hastily, not wanting to seem disloyal to his yami.

"I guess not," Yugi conceded, though in all truth leaving Bakura behind would have made the trip a lot more pleasant.

"I don't _need_ permission!" Bakura retorted angrily. "If I want to join you, I'll damn well join you!"

The tomb robber stood watching the three figures further distance themselves from him for a moment, a hand fisting by his side as a great laugh went up between them at one of Yami's jokes, doubtless at _his_ expense. "Kuso Pharaoh..." he growled, turning to pick his backpack up. "I'll show him..."

Bakura grimaced at the cold, wet, slimy feeling that seeped through his t-shirt as he lugged the bag onto his back. Maybe camping there hadn't been his best idea after all...

* * *

"Oh for the love of... Ryou, that's all wrong!" Bakura exclaimed, letting go of the pole he held and raising his arms skyward in frustration. A muffled "Ow!" came from inside the tent as it landed on his hikari, who scrabbled to what he hoped was the front of the tent to defend himself.

"I followed your instructions, Bakura," the boy huffed, poking his head out the door of the tent. His pale cheeks were tinted lightly in irritation, and he did his best to glower at his yami. The end result was the look of an irritated puppy in a kennel that had been woken up early. "I put every pole where you told me to, and now you're telling me it's wrong!"

"Well you shouldn't have followed my instructions so closely then," Bakura replied, the tone of his voice implying it should have been all too obvious. "Honestly, how can we get my tent right when you don't even acknowledge that I don't know what I'm doing?"

Ryou maintained his 'glare' a moment longer, before disappearing back into the tent. "I'll just do it myself," he muttered in annoyance. "Go get some firewood or something."

Bakura's eyes narrowed at his hikari's tone, and he bent down to pick something up. "Ryou?"

"Yes?"

"Get that pine cone out of my tent, will you?"

A small pause followed as Ryou had a quick look round. "...what pine cone?"

Yugi flinched as Bakura pelted the cone held in his hand into the tent with all his might, drawing another shriek of pain from Ryou. He and Yami had already set their shared tent up, and were currently sat watching Ryou and Bakura's struggle. Had it have been Bakura on the receiving end of the pain, it would have been a lot more amusing.

Ryou's head poked out the door again, a pole in his hand this time. "Bakura! Firewood! Now!" he shrieked, looking for all the world like he was ready to burst. The tomb robber simply laughed in response to this demand, and sauntered off casually to patrol the edge of the woods in search of dry sticks.

Ryou stayed still, watching his yami's retreating figure for a moment, before sighing heavily and returning to fixing the tent up. He should've known better than to try to make Bakura help out, he decided, shaking his head to himself. Even the simplest tasks seemed beyond him, when it wasn't off his own back. Sure, he could mix complicated chemicals in the science lab at school, and he could explain the offside rule for no less than five different sports, but ask him to do a favour...

'_And he's bloody useless!'_

"Exactly," Ryou murmured in agreement, before pausing midway through inserting a pole into its corresponding support to frown in confusion. He'd been thinking, so how could Yami and Yugi have...?

"...oh gods..."

'Yup. I'll be sure to remember that one, oh adoring hikari of mine.' 

Ryou slumped forward slightly, resting his forehead on the pole he was holding up, mentally berating himself for not shutting off the link. He didn't _dare_ begin to think what his yami's retribution might be – not least of all because it might give him ideas.

"...crap..."

* * *

Eventually, Ryou had both his and Bakura's tents set up, and was setting about sorting their provisions into some sort of order in the back of his tent. It wasn't that he was fussy, he told himself. He just hated rummaging through a backpack for ages at a time when a few minutes' work could save that hassle for the entire holiday.

"Hey Ryou!" came Yugi's voice, the boy sounding as bright and chipper as ever as he poked his head in through the front flaps of Ryou's tent. "Yami and I are gonna go down to the river in a few minutes, and have a little soak after all that walking. You coming?"

Ryou paused for a moment, contemplating. It was true that it had been quite hot that day, and the river would undoubtedly be nice and cold. It'd also be a nice break away from Bakura, who surely wouldn't give him a moment's rest upon his return. "Alright," he replied, looking over his shoulder to his friend and smiling. "I'll be right along just as soon as I've done this."

Yugi nodded in response, his smile widening further, and darted back out to go and tell Yami they'd have one extra. Ryou in the meantime returned to his task, but was soon interrupted by Yugi's voice again. "Ryou... are those tins in alphabetical order...?"

Ryou opened his mouth to brush the comment aside, but stopped as he examined the pile. "Oh god..." he murmured, his eyes wide in horror and embarrassment. "They _are._ I didn't even mean to, but they're in alphabetical order..."

Yugi blinked a little at his friend's odd – and somewhat disturbingly obsessive - behaviour. Truth be told, it wasn't the first time Ryou had displayed such behaviour since that unfortunate incident with the storeroom. "Well... at least you didn't sub-sort them by their 'use by' dates, eh?" he laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

Ryou laughed sheepishly in return, his eyes quickly roving over the piles to double-check. "Yeah..." he breathed with a small sigh of relief. "That'd be when we had to worry, eh?"

Yugi grinned again, glad to see his friend wasn't _that_ far down the path. "Well, we're just going to change, and we'll meet you down at the river, okay? We'll be just before that bend, where it was deep and calm."

Ryou nodded again. "Yeah, I'll catch you in a couple of minutes."

As soon as he was sure his spiky-haired friend was gone again, Ryou quickly turned back to his piles, shuffling the tins about randomly. He hadn't just had them in alphabetical order. He couldn't have. It was just absurd to think-

"Ne, Ryou..." came Yami's uncertain voice, catching the boy mid-thought. The white-haired boy turned to face his older friend, smiling. "Yeah?"

"...you aren't sorting those tins into a colour pattern, are you...?"

* * *

With a joyful whoop, Ryou leapt into the water beside Yugi and Yami, laughing as he resurfaced with his hair plastered to his face. "Oh... _cold!_" he called out, immediately feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, flicking his hair back.

The two spiky-haired teens – both of whom had refrained from fully submerging at least thus far – laughed brightly in response to Ryou's little shriek, simultaneously sweeping the surface of the water with their arms to launch a miniature wave at him. The white-haired boy raised his arms in front of his face in a feeble defence, laughing again as the water surged over him anyway. "Jerks!" he jokingly cried, sending a spray of water back in return and managing to soak Yami. The former Pharaoh gasped in mock-horror, growling as his spikes began to droop, and leapt at Ryou, tackling him under the water.

The laughter as the boys played carried back to the campsite easily, where Bakura had just dumped the pile of firewood he'd collected. He hadn't done it to be helpful, of course – he was simply looking forward to getting a chance to set Yami's hair on fire without it looking quite as deliberate as previous efforts. Like the incident with the lighter and aerosol can.

Bakura's eyes narrowed at hearing the sounds of exuberance, annoyed that his hikari dared go off without his permission. Grumbling, Bakura followed the noises across to where the three other teens played, eyeing them disdainfully from the riverbank.

"Oh yes, very good," he murmured, squatting down with his elbows resting on his knees. "Lets all go and have fun without our dear friend, even though he just braved numerous denizens of the forest to ensure we can have a campfire tonight."

Ryou and Yugi exchanged a brief glance with each other, both fairly sure that Bakura's 'encounters' were probably nothing more dramatic than squaring up to a shrew. "Well, you can join in if you want," Ryou offered. "We're not stopping you."

Bakura smirked. "Like a couple of drips like you could stop me," he retorted, chuckling at his own pun. "The Pharaoh would at least put up a vaguely worthwhile fight... where is he, anyway?"

Yugi's eyes opened wide as he glanced about frantically. "He... he was just here!" he cried. "Yami! Yami!"

'Don't worry, aibou...' 

Yugi calmed a little at hearing Yami's voice, though he was still worried. _'Where are you?'_

"Maybe he got swept downstream," Bakura smirked. "After all, I doubt a mummy's-boy like him could swim strongly if his life depended on-"

Bakura shrieked as a hand suddenly shot out of the water in front of him and latched onto his ankle, tugging sharply. The wet earth beneath Bakura made a loud 'splat' sound as his legs shot out from under him, dropping him on his back, and another sharp tug soon landed him in the water.

Yami surfaced with a triumphant grin. "Oh, _en contraire,_ Bakura," he smirked. "Please, feel free to join in."

The white-haired demon-boy emerged not long after Yami, throwing his hair back and staring down at his sodden clothes, before fixing a glare on his nemesis. If looks could kill, Yami would have shrivelled up and crumbled there and then. As it stood, the only difficulty he was currently having was keeping from bursting out laughing at the dripping thief before him.

"That..." Bakura growled, "...was low. Underhanded. Devious. Sneaky. Outright-"

"Jealous, Bakura?" Yami cut in. "Or are you always such a wet blanket?"

Bakura's glare darkened at the Pharaoh's teasing. "This isn't over!" he bellowed, his arm shooting up by his side with one finger extended skywards. "This is war!"

With another roar of anger, Bakura turned and grabbed his hikari by the wrist. "Let's go Ryou!" he growled, dragging the boy to the bank and climbing out. "I have things to do, and you're not staying here!"

"But Bakura..." Ryou whined. "I'm having fun, and-"

Ryou stopped mid-sentence as he suddenly felt Bakura's hand fist in his hair, pulling warningly. "Itaitaitaitaitai!" Ryou cried.

"Now be a good hikari, and-"

A loud splash followed as Bakura suddenly went tumbling in headfirst again. A pair of startled brown eyes and surprised crimson red eyes both stared up at the figure on the bank who was now stood in the space Bakura had occupied not two seconds earlier. "Yugi?!" Yami gasped. "Did you just push him in?!"

The hikari simply shrugged. "I still owed him for that carrot..."


	2. Food Frolics

Hey all! Here's another chapter, just for you! Special thanks to _DAU, Shiroiketsueki, yamiyugifanadic _and _Misura _for their reviews!

* * *

The four friends, now dried out from their games in the river, sat in the middle of their circle of tents, eating a late lunch and enjoying the sun on their faces. For some reason – with the exception of Yami's love of spam – food was one of the few subjects that all four boys could agree on. Or, more importantly, the necessity of enjoying it. There had even been a few occasions, in days past, when Bakura and Yami had managed a civil conversation while enjoying one of their hikaris' finer dishes.

Right now, the conversation focussed mostly around the few clouds that were in the sky. Yugi and Ryou were having fun finding shapes in them – their current debate being whether one particular cloud looked more like Kuriboh or Shining Friendship – and Yami and Bakura were reminiscing about 'the good old days in Egypt' when there was never a cloud in the sky. They both chose to tactfully overlook the fact that neither of them could actually_ remember _their days in Egypt, instead both having a little contest to see who could make up the most fantastic but believable story.

"I'm telling you Yugi, those are wings!" Ryou insisted, gesturing to two protruding patches of cloud coming from the main ball shape.

"They're _feet!"_ Yugi replied equally vehemently around his mouthful of cheese sandwich. "They're far too thin to be wings!"

"They're too big to be feet," Ryou retorted firmly. "A Kuriboh with feet that big would trip over itself every time it tried to move."

Both boys laughed a little at the mental image this brought to them, before silently agreeing to move on to another cloud, peering up into the bright blue sky to try to spot one. "What about that?" Yugi asked. "It looks a bit like a palm tree..."

Ryou nodded slightly, opening his mouth to comment before glancing across to Bakura. He'd caught a very familiar smirk out of the corner of his eye, and wondered what was so amusing.

"Hey, Pharaoh," the thief began almost politely – or politely by his standards, at any rate. "Why are you spreading mayonnaise on your face?"

"It's not mayonnaise," Yami replied with a heavy sigh as he began massaging it in, as if it should have been patently obvious. "It's sun tan lotion. Yugi insists I wear it, even if I do have Egyptian skin."

"That's funny," Bakura remarked, shuffling a little closer and peering over Yami's shoulder. "I've never heard of 'Low Calorie Sun Tan Lotion' before..."

"What?" Yami frowned a little, glancing inquisitively down at the bottle. Sure enough, Bakura was right. "Oh _shit!"_ he exclaimed, grabbing at some nearby napkins and wiping them over his face. "Shit shit shit!" With a look of abject horror, he turned to face Bakura, a couple of small patches of mayo left behind. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Bakura's initial reflex was to inform the Pharaoh that it was because he didn't really like him very much. For some reason, though, he let the opportunity to rile him up pass. Perhaps it was something in the food – Ryou's homemade bread was among Bakura's favoured substances, after all. "Only just noticed," he replied.

Yami kept rubbing at his face, almost as if he'd been driven to paranoia. "Well what happened to the sun tan lotion?"

Bakura took a bite out of his ham and pickle sandwich, gesturing toward Yami's empty paper plate. "You put that in the sandwiches."

By now, Yami was utterly aghast. "But I ate them!" he almost shrieked, scraping his tongue against his teeth as if the taste had suddenly come back.

"I know!" Bakura replied with a small chuckle, returning to his original space. "I _was_ gonna say something, but... you know."

Yami shot Bakura a glare, settling for making quiet little 'ugh' noises as he stood up, looking rather ill. The boy hurried to his and Yugi's tent to fetch a drink and his toothbrush, eager to clean his mouth until he was _sure_ nothing was left there.

"...Bakura..." Yugi quietly called once he was sure Yami was out of hearing range. His face was concerned as he waved to catch the thief's attention. "...did Yami _really_ eat the sun lotion...?" he enquired, picking up the bottle to read it over to make sure it wouldn't kill him.

Bakura shrugged nonchalantly. "Wasn't watching. It'd be quite funny if he had though, wouldn't it?"

A stunned silence fell over the group for a moment, unable to believe Bakura's cruel mind-games, before Ryou let out a stifled snigger. This set Bakura off into a laughing fit, who was quickly joined by his hikari, the two boys ending up doubled up on the floor clutching at their midriffs. Even Yugi couldn't help giggling quietly to himself.

The look on Yami's face had been priceless.

* * *

"Jerk," Yami huffed, glowering at Bakura as he picked a pole up.

"Wimp," Bakura retorted with a smirk.

Bakura had eventually told Yami that he _hadn't_ eaten the sun lotion – after much persuasion from both Yugi and Ryou – and the former Pharaoh hadn't taken it at all well. Within a matter of moments, the two had been rolling round on the floor, both trying to swipe at each other as they fought for superiority. Fortunately, they'd both fought so many times before that each knew the other's moves by heart, and so very few blows were actually landed. The pair had eventually been separated by a couple of well-aimed cucumber sandwiches, the surprise of said food slapping them in the face being enough for them to pause momentarily.

Unfortunately, the scuffle had resulted in Yugi and Yami's tent being knocked down, one of the main poles having been caught by a stray limb. Now, under the watchful eye of the hikaris, the two boys – _very_ grudgingly – were working together to reassemble it. The threat of withdrawing all food but for Spam, in Bakura's case, and pickle for Yami, was incentive enough for the pair to actually behave long enough to complete the task at hand.

"It's your fault," Yami muttered. "If you hadn't been so childish..."

Bakura snorted through his nose as he picked up the tent cover. "You're the one who can't tell the difference between mayonnaise and sun lotion. If you hadn't been that moronic, I wouldn't have had the chance to do that to you. And besides, I don't recall _me_ being the one that dived at me." Bakura gave a short, scornful laugh as he shook the fabric out, trying to work out which way round it went. "Sore loser, that's what you are."

Yami opened his mouth to give an equally derisive reply, but was cut off by a warning yell from Yugi. Deciding that food was more important than his rivalry, Yami settled for merely glowering at Bakura again as he jabbed a pole into the adjacent support.

Somehow, the two managed to remain silent long enough for the main structure of the tent to be erected. All that was needed now was to bang the tent pegs in, and it'd all be set again.

"Ne, Bakura," Yami beckoned as he knelt down at one of the corners, hammer and peg in hand. "Couldn't just grab a few more pegs from over there, could you?" Yami's politeness was forced – almost tense – and he was sure Bakura could tell that. In all honesty, though, he just wanted to be done with this tiresome job, and he was fairly sure Bakura felt the same.

"Yes _Pharaoh_," Bakura sneeringly replied, giving a little mock-curtsy. "I'll be sure to polish the marble flooring once we're done too."

The thief walked away, rolling his eyes, and picked up the pile they'd gotten together, muttering about how the habit of a lifetime never changes. Striding back, he stood beside Yami, offering the pegs forward. "Where would you like them, _sire?"_

Yami looked up mid-swing to glare at Bakura, not watching what he was doing. "No need for that," he growled. "At least _try_ to act like you're-"

Yami was cut off as Bakura gave a yell of pain, throwing the pegs up in the air and grabbing his left foot, hopping away. "You stupid bastard!" he roared. "That hurt! That was deliberate!" Bakura settled for cursing to himself as he moved further away. "Fuck fuck fuck!"

Yami covered his head as the pegs rained down around him, leaping up to his defence. "I didn't touch you!"

"No, but that stupid bloody fucking hammer did!" Bakura bellowed, totally forgetting about behaving civilly now. "Watch what you're doing for fuck's sake!"

"You watch where you drop those pegs!"

"Yami!" came Yugi's angry voice.

"Bakura!" Ryou shrieked. "What're you two doing?"

The two yamis pointed at each other defiantly, speaking simultaneously. "He did that on purpose!"

The two hikaris visibly grimaced at this, their hopes for a nice quiet holiday already dashed. "Both of you be quiet and fix the tent," Yugi stated. "Bakura, pick those pegs up, Yami, start hammering. I don't want to hear another word from _either_ of you til it's done!"

"But-"

"_Bakura!"_ Ryou yelled warningly. "Just... don't!"

The thief actually looked almost hurt at this outburst. For once in his life, he _wasn't_ going out of his way to get Yami in trouble, yet he was still being incriminated. Limping almost mournfully, Bakura silently made his way back to the tent to get on with the task. He'd make Ryou and Yugi – _and_ that kuso Pharaoh – pay for this later, but for now he wanted to ensure his food wouldn't be taken away. Come to think of it, he still owed those two spike-heads for their mockery of him in the river too.

Oh yes, they'd pay _dear_-

Bakura's vengeful thoughts were cut off as he tripped and sprawled, his ankle hooked and swiped out by the hammer currently back in Yami's hand. Yami had only been picking it up – he hadn't _meant_ to trip Bakura at all – but the two had crossed paths at precisely the worst time.

"Hey, Bakura," Yami began, turning to look at him. "Are you-"

"_Yami!"_ both hikaris chorused at once. "We saw that!"

As Bakura pushed himself up, mentally laughing at Yami's feeble protests, he smirked to himself. Maybe – just maybe – those two had just gotten themselves off the hook, at least for now...

* * *

Much of the rest of the day passed without incident. Yami had actually agreed to sit aside and allow Bakura to light the campfire, with the promise that Yugi would cook for them that night. While Ryou was far better at cooking more exotic dishes, Yugi cooked the more simple foods – pasta, chicken, sausages etc – better. Yugi stuck with what he knew, whereas Ryou was happy to experiment with new dishes. It was a winning combination for the two yamis.

The evening meal had simply been bacon, sausages, eggs and mushrooms served up with buttered bread, with instructions for everyone to just help themselves to whatever they fancied – Yugi wanted an easy task that evening. As a result, Bakura and Yami had ended up in an unofficial eating contest, both trying to out-eat each other, neither boy caring about the inevitable consequence.

"I can't move..." Yami groaned, laying flat across the grass. He made a feeble attempt at sitting up, before flopping back down again with a long moan. "So full..."

Bakura, with an audible effort, rolled onto his side momentarily, prodding Yami's stomach with one finger before dropping onto his back again, cackling at Yami's indignant protest. "Baka Pharaoh," he snorted, stretching slightly. Although Yami had managed half a sandwich more than Bakura, the overall winner of the contest was yet to be seen – after all, Bakura reasoned to himself, if he was the first to walk away, he could claim clear superiority in handling his food. That would mean that, over a longer time scale, he'd leave Yami in the dust.

Ryou and Yugi both stared at their bloated yamis, shaking their heads slightly. "They're gonna suffer for that in the morning, aren't they?" Yugi commented quietly.

Ryou nodded in return. "Remember the last time this happened? The toilet was out of commission for three days..."

Yugi closed his eyes, shuddering at the memory. The two yamis' digestive systems hadn't quite gotten used to handling greasier food yet. "You'd think they'd learn, wouldn't you?"

Ryou sighed in defeat, taking a bite out of the double-layer sandwich he'd made for himself. "You know those two," he replied after swallowing. "Their personal space is half a mile wide, and their egos could deflect bullets. As long as they win, the cost doesn't matter."

Both boys stared in disbelief as Yami eventually rolled over to try to swing at Bakura, the rivals engaging in a very sluggish fight.

"I guess they can move after all..."

* * *

Several hours later, all four boys had made it into their respective tents, having put the campfire out and packed their things away. Yugi and Yami, given the gentle snores coming from their tent, had already dropped off to sleep, and Ryou could feel over their mind-link that Bakura wasn't far from it either. He, on the other hand, was wide-awake. Something didn't feel quite right.

'_Bakura...'_ he softly sent out over their link. _'Bakura... are you awake?'_

Ryou felt a sense of irritation come over the link, and was sure he actually heard Bakura's growl from his tent. _'I am now, hikari,'_ came the sleepy response. _'This had better be good.'_

Ryou swallowed, somewhat concerned about what the morning might bring. He knew how much Bakura hated being woken before he was ready. Right now, though, he was more worried about what was nagging at him. _'Bakura...'_ he continued. _'I... I think there's something outside...'_

A pause followed, and Ryou could feel Bakura listening. _'...no shit, Sherlock'_ he eventually responded. _'You can't expect the universe and everything in it to be confined solely within the four walls of your tent, can you?'_

Ryou frowned in surprise at this remark. _'You're oddly philosophical for the time of night, Bakura...'_

A vague grunt was all Ryou got in reply, Bakura's way of stating that the conversation was over. With a sigh, Ryou slipped further down into his sleeping bag, drawing it up close and trying to get comfortable, his fears not even partially alleviated. Suddenly, though, an odd noise came to his ears. It sounded like something hooting.

'_Bakura!'_ he hissed over their link, sitting up with wide eyes. '_There's someone outside doing owl impressions!'_ The hooting sound came to Ryou's ears again. _'...really bad ones!'_

'Hikari...' 

'..._yes?'_

'_If you don't shut up and let me sleep, I'll break both your legs and leave you on a hill somewhere, okay? Whatever's out there won't even begin to compare to me.'_

Ryou contemplated this response, and nodded to himself. Regardless of Bakura's often hostile attitude, he'd look after Ryou if anything did come. What was still unnerving Ryou, though, was that the hooting seemed familiar, almost as if he should recognise it from somewhere. Trying to shrug it off, Ryou settled down once more, eventually dropping off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Review? Pretty please? ::holds out begging bowl:: 


	3. Rambles and Tales

Note for this chapter to all readers who didn't know: 'Flat' is the English term for 'apartment.' I just prefer using the word I know for it.

* * *

Yawning softly, Ryou slowly opened his eyes, blinking slightly in the morning sunlight that illuminated his tent. With a groan, he stretched his arms and legs out, arching his back and sighing comfortably as a couple of small pops loosened his spine up again. He slowly became aware of a soft beeping somewhere in his tent, and realised it was the alarm on his watch.

"Wonder what time it is…" he murmured sleepily, closing his eyes as he lay his head back down. He didn't want to get up right away, but if it were too late in the morning he'd not have much of a choice. Slipping one arm out of his sleeping bag, he groped blindly about the area around him, searching for his watch.

"Nnn… socks… t-shirt… rucksack…" Ryou clarified for himself what everything was as he set his hand on it. It was just a bit more reassuring to hear it out loud, rather than simply thinking it.

A sleepy voice came from beside Ryou, half-muffled by a yawn. "What're you looking for?"

"Watch…" Ryou murmured in reply, still groping about. He quickly drew his hand back as he felt it touch his guest's stomach. "Sorry 'bout that…"

"S'okay," came the mumbled reply. There was a short rustling sound, as if someone were rummaging for something, and then the sound of someone rolling over. "Here, use mine."

"Thanks," the white-haired boy returned, yawning again. He blinked his eyes open again, smiling gratefully at the blonde-haired boy laying next to him, and eyed the timepiece sleepily.

"Half ten… suppose I'd better be up," Ryou grudgingly admitted, handing the watch back to the boy.

Finally, it dawned on Ryou's sleep-addled mind that when he'd gone to sleep, he'd been alone. Therefore, the fact that someone else was in his tent wasn't _quite _right. With a scream, Ryou jerked himself up, trying to stand and only succeeding in tangling his feet in his sleeping bag, resulting in him falling straight down again.

"WHOA!" the boy next to him yelled back, sitting up in surprise and shaking his head as his blonde hair flopped over his face. "What? Who? Huh?"

Ryou scrambled toward the door of his tent, staring at the boy. "Who the hell are you?! What're you doing in my tent?!"

Before the boy could answer, Ryou heard the zip behind him being opened, and felt four hands pull him out. "What's going on?!" Bakura demanded, dressed in only his boxers. Yami was stood beside him, in an equal state, both boys having been woken by Ryou's shrieks and rushing to his aid.

"Someone crept into my tent in the night!" Ryou shouted, flailing and scrabbling back from the door. "He's still there!"

With a growl, Bakura ducked through the doorway. "Only _I_ get to terrorise my hikari!"

Given the surprised yell that came from the tent, Bakura had grabbed whoever it was in there. Within a second, he darted back out again, dragging the intruder – who was vainly protesting against such treatment – by his hair. Forcing him down onto his knees, Bakura grabbed both his arms and held them out of the way. "Get him Yami!"

As the teen's fist drew back, Yami for once being all too happy to oblige Bakura's demand, the intruder shrieked again. "Hey! Hey! It's me! Malik!"

Everyone present froze, and the boy being held by Bakura flicked his hair back, revealing his face. "Geez, I expected you to be surprised, but I didn't think you'd execute me!"

A moment's awkward silence passed, before Bakura let go of the Egyptian and slapped him across the back of his head. "Idiot! Why didn't you say something sooner?!" he barked gruffly, hiding his embarrassment.

"Ow…" Malik pouted, rubbing where he got whacked. "No need for that…" With a weak smile, he glanced round at the three before him. "Sorry about that Ryou. I forgot my tent, and since Yugi was already sharing and Bakura'd kill me, I figured yours was the safest bet." After a moment, he couldn't help smirking slightly. "Nice underwear, by the way," he remarked, gesturing to the light blue underpants Ryou had slept in.

The addressed boy shrieked again, this time in embarrassment, and hid behind Yami's legs, blushing brightly. And he'd thought Bakura's teasing was bad…

* * *

Once everyone was dressed and had awakened properly, they all sat in front of their tents in the sun, talking amongst themselves.

"So Malik," Yugi began. "Let's try to sort this out. You decided to come camping with us, and forgot your tent?" The Egyptian nodded in reply, and Yugi continued. "So, where are you planning to sleep?"

"Oh, don't worry," Malik replied cheerfully. "I've got it figured out. See, since none of you have any spare room, I couldn't just impose myself on any of you. That wouldn't be fair. _So_ to make it a bit fairer, I'll rotate between you all!"

Bakura's face went stony at this suggestion. "What?" he asked dryly. "I'm sorry… I don't think I quite caught what you said..." His tone of voice made his disapproval quite clear.

"It makes sense!" Malik argued. "I don't have a tent, so I need to share. It's not fair to enforce myself on one of you, so if I sleep in one tent one night, and another for another night, it balances out! I mean, at least you guys will get _some_ decent sleep, unlike me…" Malik trailed off, looking down as if hoping for sympathy.

"No," Bakura stated firmly. "Not my tent. Not Ryou's tent."

Yami's eyes narrowed. "I for one think it's a good idea," he replied icily. "If Malik gets forced to sleep outside, he might get ill. He has to share."

Yugi blinked at Yami in surprise, before tugging on his sleeve and whispering. "Yami… do you _really_ mean that?" Yugi almost felt a sense of pride in his yami. An act of such nobility and compassion, from a former Pharaoh… was he finally learning modern social values?

"No," Yami replied. "But I don't want to admit that baka tomb robber is right."

"…" Yugi hesitated, stunned by this logic, before giving a feeble laugh and drooping dejectedly.

"…so anyway, Malik," Ryou called, giving Yugi a somewhat confused sideways glance. "What about your yami? What'll we do when he turns up?"

"Oh don't worry," Malik replied airily. "He's taken care of." He looked like he was about to offer an explanation, when he spotted a cake tin from the corner of his eye, and immediately dashed over to investigate. "Hey, are there any fairy cakes in here?"

* * *

"…nine hundred and ninety eight… ninety hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine… one million!" Yami no Malik spun round with a devilish gleam in his eye, wielding his rod menacingly and licking his lips. "Ready or not, hikari, here I come!"

* * *

"Come on you three, keep up!"

The three hikaris looked up as one at Bakura and Yami, who were stood at the brow of the hill ahead of them. Grumbling slightly, Ryou and Yugi both slung their bags back up onto their back, traipsing up after them. "They just don't appreciate the finer things…" Yugi complained. "Just rushing through the walk, not noticing anything around them. It's called a ramble for a reason…"

"I know," Ryou returned. "I mean, it's not so often you get to see a bird nest with eggs still in it nowadays, is it?"

"They were pretty though…" Yugi smiled wistfully as he remembered the creamy-coloured eggs with their soft brown speckles. "I wonder what sort of bird it was?"

"Definitely not a chicken," Malik answered, having finally abandoned the nest and hurried to catch up to the other two. "I'd recognise those, at least."

Yugi and Ryou both silently opted not to dignify Malik's statement with a response, instead racking their brains for the answer. They _knew_ that they knew the eggs from somewhere – it just wouldn't come to mind. "Maybe it was a finch…" Yugi mused. "They're quite small."

"_Finally,"_ Bakura exclaimed as the three caught up to him and Yami, who had been talking quite animatedly. "Don't worry about us getting back to camp in time for dinner or anything, you know?"

Ryou scowled at Bakura and stuck his tongue out. "For your information, we just found a nest and were actually enjoying ourselves looking at it."

"Oh, that," Yami remarked nonchalantly. "Yeah, we noticed that. Honestly, I'd have thought _you _guys would've seen a sparrow's nest before."

Yugi and Ryou both stared at Yami. "Y… You… how did you know what it was?" Yugi stammered in surprise.

"Who doesn't?" Bakura countered, picking his bag up and slinging it over his shoulder. "Now come on, there's plenty more walking to go yet. I want to at least have a look at that small lake that the river runs into."

As the two yamis, followed by Malik, led the way again, Yugi and Ryou both hesitated. "It just seems so… wrong…" Yugi finally ventured.

Ryou nodded his agreement, staring solemnly at their retreating figures. "How did two people like _them_ end up interested in nature?"

"Maybe my cooking poisoned them, and they're delirious…" Yugi murmured, plucking up the courage to begin to follow. "Somehow, that seems a far more comforting prospect than them actually enjoying the great outdoors…"

From over the crest of the hill there came a sudden bellow of rage, followed by a string of curses and a mention of a rather unorthodox use for a tent pole that made Ryou flinch as he recognised Bakura's voice. Apparently he and Yami were back to disagreeing again. Ryou and Yugi both stopped where they stood, giving each other a glance that asked 'why us?'

"Do we really want to find out?" Yugi enquired, wincing as Yami returned an equally graphic description of where he was going to shove Bakura's rucksack if he wasn't careful.

"It's that or keep dwelling on the nest thing," Ryou sighed, striding forward with his head drooping in a defeated slump. "Personally, I think it's a clear choice…" He didn't even need to glance over his shoulder to know Yugi would be following him – it was quite literally a case of 'better the devil you know.'

* * *

"How dare you even _think _such a thing!" Bakura snapped at Yami as Yugi and Ryou climbed over the brow of the hill.

Bakura and Yami were stood practically nose-to-nose, glaring daggers at each other and growling when they weren't speaking. Evidently, _something_ had ruffled their feathers, though given their history of arguments it could be something that would seem incredibly minor to anyone else. Malik was stood about two metres from them, hopping from foot to foot nervously and occasionally calling for them to calm down, with little success. He looked most relieved when he spotted Ryou and Yugi, and hurried over to them. "You've got to help," he urged. "They're _really_ pissed this time…"

"I saw them in your hands Bakura!" Yami retorted angrily. "You can't deny it!"

"You assume that having my lighter and my hikari's deodorant can in my hands automatically means I'm going to attack you?"

"I don't assume, I _know_!"

"Oh no…" Yugi whispered. "It's the hair again, isn't it?"

Malik nodded. "I think Bakura might actually be innocent this ti-" The boy stopped mid-sentence as he saw the look the other two gave him. "What? I'm just saying… I mean, he didn't actually do anything…"

"So where are they now?" Ryou asked, gesturing to Bakura's empty hands. "And why did he yell?"

"Yami stole them and threw them away," Malik answered. "The yell was when a squirrel stole his lighter."

A solemn silence fell over the boys, broken only by Yami and Bakura's squabbling. By the sound of things, though, it had degenerated into name-calling, and doubtless wasn't going to last much longer.

"…let's just let them catch us up," Ryou finally sighed, shifting his bag to a more comfortable position. "We'll get less of a headache that way…"

* * *

That night, five friends sat round the campfire, each boy enjoying some chicken in lemon breadcrumbs – perhaps the most adventurous dish Yugi had ever made. With Ryou's guidance, it hadn't been as difficult as Yugi had expected, though he still insisted that he wasn't ever going to be quite such a budding chef as his friend.

While Ryou was trying to convince Yugi otherwise, Bakura and Yami sat silently, glaring daggers at each other. While they'd both gotten over their earlier dispute, neither had forgotten it, and neither wanted to be the first to let it drop either. That could almost be seen as forgiving the other. No, until their attention was otherwise occupied, they intended to remind each other exactly how much they disliked each other. Quietly, of course, so that their hikaris wouldn't catch on.

Malik, in the meanwhile, was also sat in silence, though he looked to be deep in thought. Suddenly, he perked up. "That's it!"

All four other boys turned to face him, a questioning look on their faces. "What is?" Yugi enquired, shifting so that he faced Malik completely.

"Ghost stories!" Malik responded eagerly. "We're sat round a campfire, in the middle of some woods, in the dark of night. It's perfect!"

Ryou and Yugi both looked a little uneasy at this – Ryou especially, since he'd be sleeping alone. "I don't know…" he murmured doubtfully. "I mean, they're all good fun, I know, but if someone tells one about this place that's too good…"

"Oh, don't worry," Bakura said softly, his trademark smirk crossing his face. "This story isn't set in the woods."

"What?" Yami asked, blinking. "But why would it be scary then?"

"Because…" Bakura began, his voice low and almost silky, drawing the four other teens in immediately. "This story is set in those old flats…"

"The old folks' flats?" Yugi enquired, ensnared in Bakura's tale already. "The ones where that old lady just moved out? The one who always had that little lapdog with her?"

"That's right," Bakura smiled – not a pleasant smile, but almost a sneer. "Do you know why she moved out?" Bakura lowered his eyes for a moment, gazing into the fire as if collecting his thoughts. When he spoke again, his voice was flat and lifeless. "They say it's haunted."

Yami snorted incredulously at this. "Don't be stupid," he replied. "Nothing's ever happened there to cause a ghost to haunt it."

"Maybe it was her then," Bakura murmured softly. "But I heard the tale a couple of days back, after she told someone. You know how it is; someone overhears and passes it on…" Bakura cleared his throat slightly. "That dog was her only companion, you know. She had no living family in the country, and she never knew how to deal with people. Obviously, she spoke to a few of the other tenants, but real friends?" Bakura shook his head. "But for that little dog, she was all alone in this world."

Ryou, Yugi and Malik nodded softly at this, and even Yami settled down to listen. It sounded promising.

"Every night, she'd go through the same ritual. Use the bathroom, turn all the lights out, climb into bed, let the dog up, and go to sleep after the dog licked her hand. Every night, that would happen – the dog would crawl under her blankets, and when he had settled, he'd lick her hand. It comforted her, to have this routine."

Again, the others nodded, shuffling a little closer to make sure they missed nothing. Something about the tale already had them spellbound.

"One night, though, things didn't go as normal. When she climbed into bed, she didn't feel her dog jump up. Obviously, this disturbed her, and she stayed awake for a while." The tomb robber raised his head, looking each of the four boys in the eye before continuing. "She hadn't noticed it earlier, but now that the flat was silent, she could hear a soft noise. 'Drip… drip… drip…' It sounded like it was coming from the boiler cupboard."

Again, the boys nodded as one.

"The old lady assumed it was the boiler leaking, and decided to get up to examine it. As she began to move, though, she felt the dog lick her hand. Relieved, she decided not to disturb her pet, instead settling down to sleep. After all, she could always call a plumber out in the morning."

"The next day, she goes through the same routine. Bathroom, lights, bed. Again, though, she doesn't feel her little doggie jump up onto the bed. She lays awake in the dark again, deliberating whether or not to look for him, when she hears that noise again. 'Drip… drip… drip…' Again, she thinks about going to investigate it, but suddenly feels a warm tongue lick her hand again. Again, she decides to leave the dog in peace. 'I really must call a plumber tomorrow' she decides."

Bakura paused for a moment, his eyes on the fire again, and a silence broken only by the fire's crackling hung over the boys. Eventually, it was Yami who interrupted the suspense. "So… what happened then?"

Bakura allowed himself a small smile, glad that even the Pharaoh was hanging on his every word. "She wakes up the next morning, and goes about her day as usual. Being old, she's not all with it, so she forgets to call the plumber out. As always that night, she goes through the same ritual – bathroom, lights, bed. Yet again, though, her dog doesn't jump up. She's getting worried by this now, since it's three nights in a row, so she almost misses it this time…"

"Misses what…?" Ryou asked softly.

"'Drip… drip… drip…' Again, it sounds like it's coming from the boiler cupboard, and this time she has had enough. She has to go and see what it is. As she sits up, though, she feels the soft, warm, damp tongue of her little dog lick her hand again. She's really torn this time, but eventually concedes to her love of her pet and stays in bed. Slightly uneasy this time, she settles down to sleep."

"The next morning, she wakes up and goes about her day as usual, and again forgets about the plumber. By chance, though, she walked by the boiler cupboard that day, and suddenly remembered the dripping sounds. Obviously, now that it's daylight she laughs about her uneasiness the night before. Things that go bump in the night, and all that."

The boys nodded again, unblinking as they leaned in closer. "What next?" Yugi urged, totally under Bakura's spell, as were the other boys.

"She opens the cupboard door," Bakura confirmed, pausing for effect. "And inside…"

Bakura fixed his gaze on Yugi stoically, his eyes almost piercing the boy. "She finds her dog, strung up with its throat slit, blood drip-drip-dripping on the floor. Written on the wall, using the blood, is a message…"

"Dogs aren't the only things that can lick, dearie."

Silence enveloped the camp, Bakura's audience almost afraid to speak and the thief simply smirking in the flickering light, creating an eerie quality about him. "She began packing her things there and then. If you go to her flat, you'll find the dog still hanging there."

Slowly, oh-so-slowly, Ryou, Yugi, Yami and Malik sat upright again, avoiding eye contact with each other, instead gazing into the fire. Eventually, one thin voice broke the silence. "B-Bakura…?" Malik stammered.

The thief smirked as he glanced across to the boy. "Yes?"

"I-I'll be sleeping i-in your tent tonight…"

* * *

Review please?


	4. Football!

Author's note: In this chapter, we encounter a game of football. By this, I mean English football – 'soccer' if you speak American English. Once again, it's personal preference. I'm sure you're all able to cope with it.

* * *

"_Malik!"_

Yami gave a soft groan as Bakura's voice infiltrated his dreams, cursing under his breath. If he was going to get woken by someone else's yells every morning, he'd have quite a lot to say to Bakura and Malik. Lifting his head up, blinking tiredly, he turned to face where the yells were coming from.

"What? I didn't do anything!"

"Malik, you _groped_ me!"

"I swear I didn't! I wasn't even awake!"

"In that case I don't want to know _what_ you were dreaming about!"

Yami heard Yugi stirring beside him, and smiled down at the boy momentarily. At least his hikari was never like that in the mornings – under normal circumstances, Yugi would be awake, showered and cooking breakfast when Yami eventually got up.

"Bakura, I swear, I don't even know where I touched you! I was asleep!"

Yugi blinked up at his yami, confusion in his amethyst eyes. "Yami? What's going on out there?" he enquired, yawning as he finished the sentence and brushing a stray bang out of his eye. "Time to get up already?"

"I can bloody well _show_ you where you touched, if you're so keen on it!"

Yami and Yugi's eyes both widened at this statement, wondering exactly what was happening in that tent. They glanced briefly at each other, before Yami crawled forward hesitantly, unzipping the door of their tent and peering out, Yugi's head appearing beside his. A shriek soon met their ears, followed by Malik's voice.

"Bakura! Oh god, no!" There was the sound of a brief scuffle, before Malik's voice came again. "Fine! If you want to be like that…"

"MALIK! Put that away this instant!"

"_BREAKFAST!"_

Yami and Yugi both darted back as one in surprise at this unexpected screech from Ryou, who stumbled out of his tent as he pulled his t-shirt on, nearly sprawling across the floor. "You two, stop right now! I'll make you breakfast, but please just put your clothes on!" he pleaded, slapping the back of his hand against the tent door to get Bakura and Malik's attention.

The tent unzipped almost immediately, and Yami and Yugi spotted Bakura holding a spatula, apparently at least partly dressed. "Ryou…?" he enquired, his eyebrow quirked.

Malik appeared beside the white-haired boy, a whisk in his hand. "…what're you talking about?" he finished.

"Uh… I… uh…" Ryou stammered weakly, a blush coming to his cheeks. "I-I'm sorry… I misunderstood, and…" The boy hesitated, before crumbling under the looks he was getting from Bakura and Malik, and lowered his head in shame. "I'll go make the breakfast…" he finished quietly, turning and heading to his tent to get the gas stove.

"Pancakes!" Bakura called cheerfully, before disappearing back into the tent to finish dressing.

"Oh, do we have to?" Malik pouted. "You know I don't like pancakes first thing."

"Pancakes," Bakura answered firmly. "I _always_ have pancakes on a Monday."

"Fine," Malik sulked, folding his arms. "I get first call on the syrup though."

* * *

Yugi, Yami, Ryou and Bakura sat lounging in the sun after breakfast, the hikaris reading a book each, Yami soaking up the rays and Bakura doodling in the sketchpad he'd stolen from Ryou. Every so often, he'd glance over at Yami, before smirking and returning to whatever he was drawing.

Eventually, the former Pharaoh sat up. "What's so amusing?" he asked irritably. "Have I got something on my face?"

"Oh, no…" Bakura returned idly. "Yugi hid the mayonnaise earlier, so no, nothing on your face." The ex-tomb robber glanced up again, before returning to his sketch, chewing slightly on his lower lip to help his concentration. "Just lay back down, don't mind me."

Yami's eyes narrowed. "You're mocking me, aren't you?" he growled. "I bet that picture's ridiculing me!"

"Oh, perish the thought," Bakura answered nonchalantly. "I'd never do such a thing." Again, he glanced up with a smirk, before returning to the page. "Nothing to worry about here."

"Bakura!" he snapped. "I swear, if you so much as-"

"Hey!" Ryou called out hurriedly, cutting Yami off before Bakura could wind him up any further. "Does anyone know where Malik is?"

As if it had been pre-rehearsed, Malik announced his presence right on cue. Or, rather, the football he'd just kicked did, slamming into the side of Yami's face and sending him sprawling. "Sorry!" the Egyptian called cheerfully, jogging over. "I didn't realise how hard I'd hit it!"

Pushing himself up out of the mud and brushing his clothes off, Yami glowered at the boy. "Yeah. Amazing coincidence how the one time you hit it too hard, it hits me, eh?" he growled.

"I know," Malik remarked, picking the ball up and tucking it under his arm. "It's freaky." He paused, looking round at the group, before frowning. "Oh come on – is no-one else playing?"

"No," Bakura answered immediately, not even looking up from his sketch.

"No," Yami replied, rubbing his cheek.

Yugi and Ryou, however, both glanced at each other, before nodding and setting their books down after putting a bookmark in the page they were on. "Sure," Ryou replied, standing up. "I guess a quick game can't hurt."

"Yeah," Yugi added. "I mean, we're here to have fun, right?"

Malik grinned at the two, giving a thumbs-up and winking. "Alright – let's go! I call goalie!"

Yugi and Ryou both grabbed a spare top each and trotted off with Malik, all three hikaris laughing and joking together as they each began teasing the others about how they were the better player. They all knew it was in good fun – after all, playing with jumpers for goalposts could hardly be taken seriously – but that only made them tease all the more.

After they'd gotten far away enough to not disturb the tents or the two yamis, Ryou slapped the ball out from under Malik's arm, tossing his jumper to the Egyptian and giving chase. With a whoop, Yugi followed suit, bearing down on Ryou and trying to steal the ball away from his feet almost as soon as the white-haired boy had got it under control. Malik dropped the two jumpers down to mark the goalposts, and the one-on-one game was on.

Bakura and Yami both watched in silence as their hikaris chased each other round, sometimes getting by and sometimes getting tackled. There came a loud slapping sound as Malik stopped a thunderous shot from Ryou, followed by a whine of pain from the Egyptian as he held his stinging hand to his chest, and Yami winced slightly.

Bakura noted this with a smirk. "Looks like my hikari's better than you," he remarked with a snort. "Of course, he did learn from the best."

Yami turned to face Bakura, an eyebrow raised. "What on _earth_ are you talking about?"

"Well, that's why you didn't play, isn't it? Afraid of getting humiliated and all that."

Yami snorted. "I seem to recall you backing out first. What, were you afraid of me running rings round you?"

Bakura happily accepted the bait, tossing his sketch into his tent with expert ease. "Sounds like someone's challenging me," he observed. "It'd be quite a pity if you couldn't back it up, wouldn't it?" The tomb robber stretched nonchalantly, and stood. "Care to try your luck?"

Yami was up almost instantly, stood practically nose-to-nose with his rival. "Nothing would give me greater pleasure," he smirked. "You're going down."

As one, the two boys sprinted across the field to where the others were playing, each keeping equal speed with the other. As they neared the makeshift pitch, though, Bakura suddenly stuck his leg out, kicking Yami's feet so that they tangled with each other, sending him sprawling in the dirt. Laughing loudly, he continued on ahead, raising his arm and calling out. "Me and Ryou against the klutz and the shrimp!" he cried, waving for Ryou to pass the ball to him. "We'll beat them to the floor!"

Glancing up, Ryou spotted his waving yami, and almost froze mid-step in surprise. The last thing he'd expected was Bakura willingly joining in with them. He wasn't so stunned, though, that he'd lose his awareness, and managed to knock the ball out of Yugi's path as the shorter boy tried to tackle him. Calling out Bakura's name to make sure he was watching, Ryou deftly kicked the ball across to him, the pass weighted almost perfectly so that it'd be at a comfortable pace when it reached Bakura. It just needed a light tap to control it, and…

Ryou cringed as the thief trod on the ball, the sphere immediately shooting out from under him and taking his balance with it, sending him crashing face-first to the floor with a loud 'oof!' as the breath was knocked out of him.

"Don't worry!" Ryou called as he jogged over to help his yami up. "Minor lapse of concentration, right?" he smiled as he bent down, offering Bakura a hand.

"Yeah," the thief growled as he accepted Ryou's help, his pride injured more than anything else. "Just a little slip. No worries."

"Great work, baka," Yami taunted as he jogged past, on his way to Yugi's side. "If that's how you play, Ryou may as well substitute you for a fridge."

Ryou managed to catch Bakura just before he swung for Yami, pulling him back. "Kick his arse in the game," the boy murmured, patting Bakura on the shoulder. "That'll be a bigger humiliation."

Bakura eyed his hikari, a wide grin forming. "Maybe there's a mean streak in you after all," he murmured, ruffling the boy's hair. "Let's see you put it to use."

* * *

"Go on Yugi! Get him!"

"Come on Ryou! Beat the squirt!"

The two yamis, both getting thoroughly worked up, cheered their teammates on as they battled it out on the pitch. Ryou was trying to get the ball round Yugi to pass it, and Yugi was vehemently battling to prevent him doing so. The two had wound up in something of a stalemate, both still moving about the pitch but also waiting for the other to commit himself to a move, or make a mistake that they could capitalise on.

Eventually, Yugi spotted a pattern in Ryou's motions, and lunged in when an opportunity popped up. Sure enough, he managed to snatch the ball away, sprinting away from Ryou with the boy in hot pursuit. "Yami!" he cried out, kicking the ball through the air. "Go for it!"

The Pharaoh quickly ran to collect the ball, elbowing Bakura in the ribs to keep him at distance as he accelerated. Ignoring the tomb robber's protests at being fouled, Yami lined up his body ready to take a shot.

The ball floated in…

Yami pulled his foot back; ready to blast the ball goalward once it was in the right place…

The ball dropped; lower, lower…

Yami could see it in his mind's eye – the ball coming in… him catching it in the air with a sweetly struck kick, sending it screaming past Malik…

Not yet… Not yet…

Yami's body coiled as his foot lashed out, arcing through the air at a magnificent speed. He knew he'd got it right – the goal was certain, as long as he-

Yami gave a cry of surprise as his foot shot past the ball, having kicked a full second too early. The momentum of his kick carried him round, spinning on the spot before he toppled over, his centre of balance pulled too far out for him to keep upright. Bakura barked a sharp laugh out as Yami sprawled into a messy heap, watching the ball bounce in front of him and up toward him again. He'd seen this on TV; all _he_ had to do was let the ball hit him on the chest, let it drop to the floor, and blast it. A goal for his team was certain…

Bakura gave a choked 'ack!' as the ball bounced higher than he'd expected, rising up and striking him forcefully in the chin, causing him to stagger backward before falling onto his rear, looking somewhat dazed. The ball, in the meanwhile, bounced harmlessly toward the goal, where Malik collected it safely.

The two hikaris stared at their yamis' misfortunes, jaws slack. "They didn't…" Yugi murmured. "That was too easy…"

The two began jogging over to their partners, helping them up. "Have you two even played before?" Ryou enquired, dusting some grass off Bakura's jeans.

"Of course!" Bakura snapped. "Momentary lapse, that's all!"

"Bakura…" Yugi sighed. "That's the fifth you two have had. _Each._ If you have played before, you're _really_ bad at it…"

"Rubbish," Yami huffed. "We could take you two on any time you challenged us!"

The two hikaris' eyes lit up at this, turning to each other with devious grins. "Oh really?" Yugi enquired, striding across to Ryou's side. "What about right now?"

"Uhhh…" Yami faltered before replying, suddenly looking much less sure of himself. "Well.. sure… that is, if that baka tomb robber thinks he can handle it…"

Bakura's eyes narrowed. "Like I'd back down from _any_ challenge," he snorted, folding his arms and glaring at the two shorter boys before him – their rebellious hikaris. "We'll teach you two a lesson you'll never forget."

"Let's go then!" Malik called out, tossing the ball onto the field. "This should be good!"

* * *

Panting heavily, Bakura pushed himself up from the floor after tripping over his own feet yet again. "Isn't it… half time… yet?" he gasped, weakly climbing to his feet. "Or... at least a… time… out…?"

Ryou ignored his yami's question, instead running right at Yami with the ball. The former Pharaoh had a determined look in his eyes, brushing a stray bang out of his face as he watched Ryou's movements. He'd get him this time. There was no way he could fail. He knew exactly what was coming; Ryou would pretend to run one way, then quickly switch to the other. _This time,_ he'd get him.

Sure enough, as Ryou approached, his shoulder dropped. "Got you!" Yami cried as he lunged forward for the ball. And sure enough, as Yami had expected, Ryou suddenly switched direction, leaving Yami stranded behind him as he ran on by.

"What the…?" Yami blinked as he tried to work out what had just happened. "…_fuck!"_ Yami kicked at the floor in frustration. "He did it again!"

Ryou tapped the ball across to Yugi, allowing his partner a free effort on goal, before turning to Yami. "That's twenty-three times now," he observed. "Yami, you are trying, aren't you?"

"_Of course I am!"_ Yami growled. "It's just harder than it looks!"

Ryou glanced across to Bakura, who looked about ready to have palpitations if he didn't get a break soon. "Okay, I think that's time…" he decided, turning and calling to Yugi and Malik.

"Rubbish!" Bakura panted, limping across. "We could still… beat… you… yet…"

"Bakura," Yugi sighed, wandering across with Malik behind. "It's forty-two nil. Just accept defeat like a man."

Bakura stopped to consider this a moment. Forty-two goals _was_ quite a target to overcome… and stopping now would mean he'd actually avoid death for another day. "…fine," he grudgingly agreed. "We'll call that full time." The thief suddenly thrust a finger into the air, bellowing as loudly as his snatched breaths would let him. "We'll get you next time though!"

* * *

Okay, not my best chapter... but please review? Thank you everyone who did last time!


	5. Curry

Note: (Not worth calling a warning, really…) This chapter contains a little fairly crude humour. I sincerely doubt it, but **if** this offends you, please don't complain. What we encounter there is, after all, a fact of life.

* * *

Bakura and Yami both sat in a sullen silence that evening when the group convened round the campfire for their usual evening meal. Tonight was Ryou's turn to cook, and he was desperately trying to think of something that might cheer the yamis up a bit. As pleasant as having a bit of peace was, he didn't want it to be at the expense of the group's enjoyment.

"Ah!" he cried out suddenly, hopping off his log and making his way into his tent. "Let's see… did I bring it…?"

There came no further sounds from Ryou, save for packets being shuffled about, and Bakura could feel the curiosity beginning to gnaw at him. His hikari was evidently planning something, but he had no idea what. When he tried to find out over their mind link, he came across something he didn't recognise. So whatever it was, it was something completely new.

Eventually, his already thin temper got the better of him. "Ryou, what on _earth_ are you looking for?" he snapped, turning to glare at the tent his hikari was in.

"I heard about this stuff they eat in England called 'curry'," the boy called through the door of his tent. "I thought maybe we could give it a try while we're out here."

"Curry?" Bakura asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes. "What's that?"

Ryou finally emerged from the tent, carrying various packets and pots. "It's a general name for this food that originally came from India," he explained, kneeling down and setting the gas stove up. "Depending on which one you make, it can be anything from mild and flavoury to mind-blowingly spicy."

"Like, chilli-spicy?" Yugi enquired curiously, standing and walking across to Ryou and leaning over his shoulder to look at some of the ingredients. "Or really hot chilli-spicy?"

"I'm not sure…" Ryou admitted. "I found one called 'Vindaloo' that seems to be really popular, but there's no mention of how hot it is. It's like it's a national secret or something."

"Or a national joke," Yami added, glad to bring himself into the conversation. "Maybe it's blindingly hot, and they don't _actually_ eat it."

"Don't be daft, Yami," Malik interjected. "The English aren't that cruel to the world."

"Yeah," Bakura snorted, sarcasm evident in his voice. "They _only _invented concentration camps and the Spice Girls."

The group visibly shuddered as one at the mention of the latter.

"Ne, Ryou…" Yugi eventually ventured, not wanting to let the conversation die for fear of certain songs coming to mind again, "What _are_ half of these ingredients anyway?" The boy leaned down and picked up a jar, eyeing the label curiously. "I mean… 'Mango Chutney'… what's that?"

"It's a sweet pickle, I think," Ryou offered. "You use it in the gentler dishes, or you can use it as a dip for your poppadums."

"…poppadums?" Yami repeated, blinking in confusion.

Ryou picked up a packet, which contained five large, thin, disc-shaped objects. "I don't know what these are made of," he conceded. "But they taste a bit like tortillas, only they're far crispier. They're like a first course, if you just have them with dips, or you can use them with the main course of your curry. Naan Bread is better for that, though…"

"Naan bread?" Malik asked.

Ryou was beginning to look a bit flustered by this point. "It's a type of Indian bread, that comes in different flavours. You can get plain, fruity, clove or garlic, for example."

"And what about the dips?"

"Uhm…" Ryou began weakly. "…well, you can have chutney, mint and yoghurt, coconut, hot lime, salad, chilli, massala, korma, bhuna…"

"So let me get this straight," Bakura interrupted. "You're going to give us a dish we know nothing about, that you have no idea what to expect of, and we're going to eat it with some unknown crispy things that are normally used for a load of dips we've basically never encountered?"

Ryou suddenly saw the major weakness in his plan, but nodded sheepishly anyway. "Well… yes…"

Bakura paused for a moment. "…Is it filling?"

"I'd think so," Yugi answered for Ryou, holding up a large bag of rice. "This is always a fair sign."

Bakura remained silent for a moment, his gaze flitting between the bag of rice, the pots, the ingredients and Ryou. "Make sure there's plenty of it," he finally stated, nodding his approval.

Ryou gave a sigh of relief as Yami agreed with Bakura, and set about beginning to cook it. "Ideally, you want the chicken to marinade for about a week beforehand," he explained as he fired up the stove. "But I think we can make do as it is…"

* * *

A while later, Ryou announced that the meal was ready, this declaration being greeted by a chorus of approval from four very hungry boys. Ryou couldn't help giggling slightly as he saw Yugi sniffing at the air, enchanted by the delicious aroma that came from the pot. Picking up and filling one of the bowls, Ryou offered it to the group in general. "Who wants to test it first?" he asked, looking round hopefully.

"Why won't you?" Bakura immediately countered, his eyes narrowing suspiciously again.

"I'm not too good with spicy food," Ryou admitted, looking almost ashamed of this. "If it's too hot…"

"I'll have it," Malik stated, saving Ryou from Bakura's scrutiny. The poor white-haired boy would doubtless have been forced to try it himself otherwise. Holding his hand out for the bowl, Malik grabbed a spoon from his sleeping bag and scooped up a mouthful, placing it in his mouth and chewing thoughtfully, evidently testing the flavour fully.

"…well?" Yami asked, impatient. His stomach's loud grumble backed up his question.

"It's good," Malik nodded, taking another spoonful. "Got a bit of a kick to it, but we'll manage."

The other boys were visibly relieved by this review, and Ryou set about dishing the food out to the others before taking a bowl for himself. He eyed the contents for a moment, still a little doubtful in case it was too spicy for him, before taking up a small spoonful and popping it in his mouth.

"Wow..." Yugi gasped, choking a little on his mouthful. "That really _is_ a bit of a kick it's got." Fanning his mouth, eyes watering slightly, he darted into his tent to grab a can of drink.

"Don't worry," Malik stated, calmly having another mouthful. "It gets easier as you get used to it."

Ryou gave a small gasp as the spicy concoction landed on his tongue. "I hope so!" he panted, suddenly breathless, following Yugi's lead and grabbing a can of drink from his own tent. "That's the first time I've made a dish that bites back!"

The flames in his mouth doused, Yugi sat down beside Malik again, picking his bowl up and gingerly taking a second, smaller morsel. "Nnnn..." he grimaced slightly, fanning his mouth again as the heat came rushing back. "You're right, it does get easier, but I really hope it hurries up so I can actually eat it..."

"I think..." Ryou announced, also fanning his mouth as he gestured to the vindaloo with his spoon. "That this is what wine tasters mean when they say 'it has a robustness that demands a certain kind of attention'."

Yugi opened his mouth to reply, when he heard a soft, strangled bleat from the other side of the campfire. Glancing across, his eyes widened as he saw the two yamis rolling round on the ground, clutching at their throats and gasping. Apparently the two had launched into another eating contest without considering what they were eating.

Malik was the one to voice Yugi's thoughts. "Apparently medical..."

* * *

As anyone who's ever had a truly spicy curry can tell you, the real testament isn't in the heat of the curry as you eat it, but in the state of your stomach the morning after. And the following morning, it was Bakura whose gut was unfortunate enough to bear witness to Ryou's first ever effort at that particular type of dish.

"Gods, Bakura!" Yami cried in disgust as there came the sound of a particularly loud eruption. "Keep it down or get further away, will you?"

An indignant yell came from the bushes Bakura had retired to, having been barred from relieving himself within ten metres of the tents for the sake of the group's safety. "Come here and _make_ me!" he bellowed in return. "That, or just shut the fuck up!"

Yami turned to face the others, making a nauseous face as though the very idea made him ill. This earned him a laugh from Malik, at least, and he turned his attention back to his rival. "Just make sure you leave some toilet paper for us!" Yami called back. "We _do _have to limit how much we use, just in case!"

There came a lengthy silence, before Bakura's voice piped up once more, a lot more polite than earlier. "Ryou...? You couldn't do me a favour, could you...?"

Yugi and Ryou both groaned as one, Ryou slapping his palm against his forehead in disbelief. "He forgot it, didn't he?"

At the nods from the others, Ryou sighed, standing and wandering across to his tent, taking out an unopened roll of toilet paper. "Coming…" he groaned, grimacing as there came another loud eruption from the bushes. Ryou paused for a moment, bracing himself, before taking a deep breath and running across to the bushes Bakura was in, setting the roll down just outside them and darting back again, exhaling and gasping loudly as he reached the sanctity of their tents.

"Ugh…" Ryou shuddered, sitting down as far from the bushes as he could without being antisocial. "Not nice…"

Yugi nodded understandingly at this remark, watching as Bakura's hand snaked out of the bushes, lifted the roll from the floor delicately and quickly withdrew again. "You have my pity…" he admitted. "I'd hate to have to do that if it was Yami in there…"

"Hey, that's a point!" Malik cried out, sitting up. "Why doesn't Yami have the same problem with curry as Bakura?"

"He didn't eat all of it," Yugi explained. "He said it was too hot for him, and it looks like he got off lucky."

"HA!" came the triumphant exclamation from the bushes. "I beat you! I win! You couldn't handle it!"

Yami rolled his eyes at this remark, crinkling his nose in disgust as another vile sound was issued. "Yeah, you beat me," he returned, sarcasm practically dripping from his words. "I'm sure you're very proud of yourself right now, stuck in those bushes with a bad case of the sh-"

"HA!" Bakura crowed again, cutting Yami off. "See? You admit it! I'm the winner! I'm the-"

Bakura stopped mid-sentence, groaning loudly as he felt his stomach shift again. Gods, this wasn't fun at all…

* * *

Much of the rest of the day surprisingly – and somewhat unbelievably – passed without incident. That evening, though, just as the hikaris had been counting their blessings, Yami reminded Yugi of a promise he'd made before they'd left.

"Are you sure you want to let him do this, Yugi?"

"It's that, or risk letting him blow the kitchen up at home…"

"Touché…" Ryou returned, dubiously watching Yami playing with his precious gas stove. "I'm just not sure we want to risk letting him blow up our sole method for cooking food."

"I can cook using the fire," Yugi assured his rather worried white-haired companion. "You don't need a steady heat for most of the things I do."

Ryou nodded at this, but still couldn't help shrieking as a worryingly large volume of gas ignited before his eyes. "Yami!"

"The match wouldn't light!" the former Pharaoh protested. "It took ages, so loads of gas got out of the canister."

"_Yami_!" Ryou shrieked again. "You don't open the gas 'til _after_ you've got a flame ready!"

"Oh…" was all Yami could manage in response. "…I guess that makes sense…"

Ryou turned pleading eyes onto Yugi, ready to beg that the boy spare his stove at least until he'd cooked their last meal on the last day. Unfortunately for Ryou, Yugi had anticipated this and was already prepared with his own puppy- eyes, which were even beginning to tear up for added effect. "Ryou… think of the kitchen…" he whimpered softly. "Don't do this to me… please?"

Ryou groaned at this, pouting slightly. "But Yugi…" he whined.

A hand on each boy's shoulder interrupted the pair. "If you two lovebirds are quite finished making eyes at each other…" Bakura remarked with a large smirk on his face. "You might care to notice that the baka Pharaoh has left the spare canister of gas _right_ beside our fire. I think in about thirty seconds, that'll have heated up enough to blow up."

"_YAMI_!"Yugi shrieked, darting under Bakura's arm and diving for the canister, narrowly missing knocking Yami into the stove. _"For God's sake, think about what you're doing!"_

Bakura laughed out loud as Yugi began to lecture Yami, striding past Ryou and heading for his own tent. "Honestly, what would you do without me?"

Ryou – rather wisely – chose not to voice the comment that immediately came to mind, instead settling for a quick eye-roll and a sigh. "Thank you for pointing that out, Bakura," he forced out, not entirely sure Yami was solely at fault for that incident. In fact, he'd be very surprised if Bakura hadn't had anything to do with it.

"Why, you're perfectly welcome, my hikari," Bakura replied as he left his tent again. "Very welcome indeed."

Somehow, Ryou immediately _knew_ Bakura was up to something. It wasn't so much that he could sense it, or even that an alarm bell was ringing. It was more like a full-blown klaxon siren whirring in his head, complete with the air raid warden wandering round yelling at everyone to turn out their lights and get in their bunkers. "Bakura…?" Ryou began suspiciously. "What're you plan?"

Ryou was cut off as another 'whumf' sound came from behind him, indicating another mass of gas had been ignited. Spinning round, he flailed at the sight before him. "Yami! Don't turn the flame up that high!"

Bakura laughed again as this time Ryou berated his rival, removing the bottle of vodka from behind his back and casually sitting down beside Malik.

He intended to have fun tonight.


End file.
